GREEN BANK, WV (WOWK) – Fifteen bursts of radio emission were detected at the Green Bank Telescope during observations of a dwarf galaxy three billion light years away. This is the first time bursts from this source have been seen at these frequencies.

According to Breakthrough Listen, an initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe, 15 fast radio bursts were detected emanating from the “mysterious repeater” FRB 121102.

Breakthrough Listen says fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are brief, bright pulses of radio emission from distant galaxies. FRB’s were first detected with the Parkes Telescope in Australia, but they have now been seen by several radio telescopes around the world.

They say that explanations for FRBs range from outbursts from rotating neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields to directed energy sources used by extraterrestrial civilizations to power spacecraft.